May 2016 Press release (MEDIA)
Creative Europe awards the UK’s audiovisual, cultural and creative sectors €40 million in its first two years
For release on Monday 23 May 2016
Creative Europe has supported 230 UK cultural, creative and audiovisual organisations, companies and films, with grants totalling €40 million during its first two years (2014 – 2015), according to a new end-of-year report published today.
Through Creative Europe's MEDIA sub-programme, €28.5 million was invested in the UK's audiovisual sector to support film, TV and video games:
• 82 UK companies and 53 UK cinemas in the Europa Cinemas network benefitted directly from grants totalling €16 million • 84 British films had their distribution supported in other European countries with €12.5 million of investment.
Through Creative Europe's Culture sub-programme, the UK’s cultural, creative and heritage sectors received €11.3 million over the two years. Key findings from the MEDIA sub-programme report on support for the audiovisual sector:
Creative Europe support for UK film and TV producers and video game developers to create content for the international market
• 16 UK production companies received nearly €2 million for the development of film, TV and digital platform projects, including nine companies that were awarded Slate Funding. Amongst the supported companies are Baby Cow Films, Belfast-based animators Sixteen South and documentary producers Spring Films. • Animation projects dominated the Single Project selections for funding. The south-west of England proved to be a hub of animation activity, with selected projects coming from Aardman Animations, King Rollo Films and ArthurCox. • €5.9 million was awarded to UK television companies to help co-finance international animation, documentary and drama programmes. This level of investment was boosted by the introduction of €1 million grants for high-end, internationally co-produced TV series which included two UK-based shows, The Last Panthers and Spotless. • Of the 18 TV projects supported, nine were animations, six were documentaries and three were TV dramas. Grants awarded include €500,000 for Cardiff-based drama producers Fiction Factory; €109,000 for London-based documentary producers APT Film & Television; and €356,350 for Edinburgh’s Red Kite Animation. • Six UK games developers received support, including multi-BAFTA award-winners The Chinese Room, Belfast-based company Italic Pig and Revolution Software, the developers of the popular Broken Sword series. • 2015 saw UK games developers receive €625,043, the highest share allocated to a single country from the Europe-wide budget of €3.4 million.
Page 1
May 2016 Press release (MEDIA)
Creative Europe support for UK films released on the Continent and distributors releasing European films in the UK
• 11 UK-based distributors received grants totalling over €1.2 million to release 31 European films in the UK including Oscar® winners Ida and Saul fia (Son of Saul) and box office successes Deux jours, une nuit (Two Days, One Night) and Tourist (Force Majeure). • 84 UK films including Pride, Jimmy’s Hall, Amy and Paddington, received a total of €12.5 million for their release on the Continent.
Creative Europe support for UK cinemas, festivals and training programmes
• 53 UK cinemas across 40 cities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are members of the Europa Cinemas network and received a total of €472,524 from Creative Europe. • Two UK film festivals, the Leeds International Film Festival and Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival in Bristol, were awarded funding totalling €141,000. • 11 industry training and network initiatives such as the National Film and Television School’s Inside Pictures, Sheffield DocFest’s MeetMarket and Film London’s Production Finance Market received a total of €2.3 million.
Key findings from the Culture sub-programme report on support for collaborative cultural activities and literary translation:
• 95 cultural, creative and heritage organisations in the UK received €11.3 million. • Projects supported include the English National Opera’s Pirates of Penzance directed by Mike Leigh; a collaborative project focused on the funding, production and distribution of artists’ film involving LUX; and an exploration of museum collections across Europe led by Tate. • The translation of 19 novels from other European languages into English was supported with €165,000.
Read the full report on the MEDIA sub-programme support in the UK
Read the full report on the Culture sub-programme support in the UK
Please note that there is another press release focussing on the Culture sub-programme – contact us if you would like to receive it.
For images, interviews or more information, please contact Katie Haines, Marketing and Communications Lead, Creative Europe Desk UK +44 (0)20 7389 4342 | [email protected] www.creativeeuropeuk.eu / Facebook / Twitter
Notes to Editors
Creative Europe is the European Union's programme to support the cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors. From 2014-2020, the EU is investing €1.46 billion in the creative industries through one unified programme, Creative Europe, which replaces the two previous Culture and MEDIA programmes. Creative Europe supports European projects with the potential to travel and find audiences beyond their national borders. Launched in 2014, Creative Europe brings together a Culture sub-programme, which provides funding
Page 2
May 2016 Press release (MEDIA)
for the cultural and creative sectors, and a MEDIA sub-programme, which invests in cinema, television, new media and games. Match funding is required by participating organisations.
Creative Europe is an initiative of the European Commission. Applications are evaluated by a committee of independent experts from the arts, culture and heritage sectors, and the funding is centrally distributed and managed by the European Commission through the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.
In each country that takes part in Creative Europe, there is an information and promotion office which supports potential and current stakeholders with their applications. The team members of Creative Europe Desk UK are based across the UK, in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast. Creative Europe Desk UK is led in the UK by the British Council and the British Film Institute, in partnership with Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Welsh Government and Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and with support from the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the European Commission. www.creativeeuropeuk.eu
Page 3